Car-coupling



J. 0. MQEWEN.

GAR COUPLING.

No. 491,185. I Patented eb, 7, 1893. I

UNITED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

JOSEPH CAMERON MOEWEN, OF LOOHLOOSA, FLORIDA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 491,185, dated February'7, 1893.

Application filed November 28, 1892. Serial No. 453,392. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH CAMERON Ho- EWEN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Lochloosa, in the county of Alachua and State ofFlorida, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCar-Couplings; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in linksfor car couplings, and the invention consists in the link, constructedsubstantially as hereinafter specified andillustrated in theaccompanying draw-' ings, in which;

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a drawhead constructed in accordancewith my invention, with a link shown in position ready for coupling witha similar draw-head. Fig. 2, is a View showing two heads connectedtogether, one head being shown in side elevation and the other insection. Figs. 3, 4 5 and 6, are perspective views of the three forms oflink which may be employed, that in Fig. 6 being the preferable form.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by letter, Adesignates the body portion of the draw-head, from whose front end, onopposite sides rise two projections B, B, precisely alike, and separatedby a groove or space a. Each projection is hook-shaped and comprises avertical part b and a rearwardly extending part b at a right angle tothe vertical part. In the rear of these hookshaped projections, anotherone, C rises from the upper side of the draw-head,whose upper faceinclines downward and forward, and, from whose front side project twoseparated lugs c, c, in line with the two hook-shaped projections. Theupper faces of said lugs c, c are continuations of and inclineat thesame angle as the upper face of the projection O, and their under facesare horizontal and in the same plane as the under sides of theextensions b, b. The rear ends of the latter are inclined at about thesame angle as the top faces of the projection O and its lugs c, 0, so

that there is formed an inclined passage down into the spacebetween thetop side of the draw-head and the lugs c, c, and the extensions b, b.

'The link I employ consists essentially of a straight bar D having atits ends lateral extensions d, at right angles to the bar D, and it isprovided with a handle E consisting of a main portion running parallelwith the bar D and united thereto by right angled extensions e at itsends. The bar D is designed to pass down between the projections B onthe draw-head, and the lateral extensions to engage the vertical membersI), 19, thereof beneath the rearward extensions b, as shown in Fig. 2.The lugs c, c operate to prevent the link from rising out of placeshould it, in its longitudinal play, occasioned by the motion of thecars, get from beneath said extensions 1). The inclined rear ends of thelatter are also of value in this connection, as there is thus novertical opening out, through which the link can rise at any point ofthe longitudinal motion of which it is capable.

The coupling together of two cars equipped with my invention, isautomatically effected as follows; The link is arranged on the coup' lerof the stationary car, as shown in Fig. 1, with the lateral extensions din engagement with the projections B, and the bar D in a verticalposition between said projections. The link is held in this position bythe handle E, whose main portion is placed between the lugs c, c, andrests against the front side of the projection C, while the part 6 liesupon the top of the draw-head. The link being thus arranged, the car tobe coupled is moved until its draw-head strikes the draw-head of theother, whereupon, by reason of the impact, the link will fall forwardfrom its vertical position and its free end will drop onto the inclinedface of the projection C, and, if not by its own weight, it will, assoon as the cars pull apart, pass through the inclined passage leadingto the space below the portions b of the hooks B, and engage with thelatter. The inner faces of the hooks B, are'beveled or flared outwardlyat their rear ends, to facilitate the passage of the coupling link, andalso at their front ends to provide for lateral swing or play, as thecoupled cars sway in turning curves. The top face of the draw-head, be-

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tween the hooks B, is inclined downwardly, to facilitate the coupling ofthe cars of different heights; for which latter use my form of couplingis admirably adapted.

Asshown in Fig. 3, the ends of the lateral extensions (1 of the link,can be connected by bars D D, parallel with the bar D, or, as shown inFig. 4, a link may be employed consisting of a round bar D havingrounded heads 01 to engage the projections B, and, again, a simple loopin the form of a rectangle, as shown in Fig. 5 may be used. In Fig. 6, Ishow a link provided with a loop, for use with cars having the commonpin and link coupler, to enable the same to be coupled to cars having mycoupler.

To prevent injury to the links from sudden contact between the cars, Islot the draw-head vertically between the projections 13, B, at itsfront end, so that the link can hang downward from the draw-head by theextensions (7 with the bar D passing through the slot.

As shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, I propose to place side pieces uponthe draw-head, both to strengthen the same, and to cover the cavitiesbetween the projections 13, B and O.

IVith this construction, of course, the type of JOSEPH CAMERON MOEWVEN.

Witnesses:

E. H. JENKINS, W. A. PERRY.

